Best Friends Strut Your Mutt launched in 1996 in Salt Lake City and now Strut Your Mutt is a movement-wide benefit and a primary fundraising platform for hundreds of local rescue groups and shelters around the country.

KANEB, Utah (PRWEB)September 05, 2018

For the past 22 years, Best Friends Animal Society, a national animal welfare organization dedicated to making the United States No-Kill by 2025, has been helping local animal rescue groups and shelters raise funds for their lifesaving work.

Best Friends® Strut Your Mutt® returns to 14 communities nationwide bringing together passionate people to raise money to save the lives of homeless pets. On the day of the event, everyone’s fundraising efforts are celebrated with the group dog walk, followed by a fun-filled festival where four- and two-legged participants of all ages can take part in activities like doggy yoga, pet portraits, music, contests and more. The events start Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018 and end Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018.

Julie Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal Society said: “Best Friends Strut Your Mutt launched in 1996 in Salt Lake City and that first year everything that could go wrong did, but we did not give up. Now Strut Your Mutt is a movement-wide benefit and a primary fundraising platform for hundreds of local rescue groups and shelters around the country – some groups even raise their entire operating budget off this one fundraiser. Best Friends produces the events and invites local organizations to use it as a turnkey fundraiser.”

Every day in America’s shelters, more than 4,100 dogs and cats are killed, simply because they don’t have safe places to call home.

“But if we work together, we can reduce that number to zero. Best Friends Strut Your Mutt is an important community event to help save animals’ lives,” Castle added.

Nationally the fundraising goal is $2.4 million. Each year, hundreds of partnering organizations participate in Strut Your Mutt to raise money needed to save lives in their own communities. Together in 2017, 300 Best Friends Network partners raised nearly $2 million.

Strut Your Mutt Day is nationwide

For people interested in saving the lives of homeless pets that don’t live in a city that hosts a live event, there is Strut Your Mutt Day, on October 27, a virtual fundraiser that allows people to raise funds online for Best Friends Animal Society or a participating local animal welfare group in their area. Last year, more than 200 people raised more than $100,000 for lifesaving programs, such as spay and neuter services, adoption events and more.

To get involved, start your own fundraising page or donate to an existing team please visit StrutYourMutt.org.

Special thanks to national sponsors Chem-Dry, BOBS from Skechers, Instinct by Nature’s Variety, and Modern Dog Magazine.

All Best Friends® Strut Your Mutt® participating cities and dates:
September 8 Atlanta
September 15 Austin, Texas and Kanab, Utah/ Best Friends Animal Sanctuary
September 22 Portland, Oregon and St. Louis
September 29 Jacksonville, Florida; Minneapolis/St. Paul and San Francisco
October 6 D.C. Metro and New York City
October 13 Houston and Salt Lake City
October 20 Los Angeles and Phoenix
October 27 National Strut Your Mutt Day

About Best Friends Animal Society

Best Friends Animal Society is a leading national animal welfare organization dedicated to ending the killing of dogs and cats in America's shelters. In addition to running lifesaving programs in partnership with more than 2,200 animal welfare groups across the country, Best Friends has regional centers in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Salt Lake City, and operates the nation's largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals. Founded in 1984, Best Friends is a pioneer in the no-kill movement and has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters nationwide from 17 million per year to about 1.5 million. That means there are still more than 4,100 dogs and cats killed every day in shelters, just because they don’t have safe places to call home. We are determined to get that number to zero by the year 2025. Working collaboratively with shelters, rescue groups, other organizations and you, we will end the killing and Save Them All. For more information, visit bestfriends.org.

To become a fan of Best Friends on Facebook, go to Facebook.com/bestfriendsanimalsociety. Follow Best Friends on Twitter (@BestFriends) and Instagram (@BestFriendsAnimalSociety)